Means for braking railway vehicles



March 10, 1925- 1,528,914

A. DE LATHAUWER MEANS FOR BRAKING RAI LWAY VEHICLES Filed Dec 6 1922 2 S'heefli s--Sheet l Fig. 1.

19 a W y March 10, 1925- 1,528,914; A. DE LATHAUWER MEARS FOR BRAKING R AILWAY VEHICLES Filed Dec. 5. 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 --F a Fig.2.

Fig.5.

Patented Mar. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES PATENT. OFFICE;

FOR BRAKING RAILWAY VEHICLES.

n Application filed December 5,1922. Serial No. 605,123.

1 all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, 'An'rHUR DE LA- THAUYER, subject of Belgium, residing at 187 Rue de la Station Flawinne,-l3elgium, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Means for Braking Railway Vehicles, of which the following is a specilioation.

This invention relates to apparatus for braking railway vehicles,- of the kind comprising a pair of braking bars adapted to be mounted between the rails of a railway track and mechanism for moving apart said braking bars so that they will engage .the inner faces of the vehicle wheels, and thus check or stop the progress of such vehicles.

Various types of such apparatus ;have been designed for use in braking railway cars and more particularly colliery corves, trucks and light wagons, but considerable difiiculties arise in practice when such apparatus are intended, for use on standard gauge railways on account .of the enormous stresses to whlch they are sub ected when .aotingon heavily loadedcars and trucks.

The object of my present invention is to provide a braking apparatus of this kind which is of such strength and .in which the movable parts are so' firmly guided that said apparatus will be particularly suitable for use on standard gauge railways as for example in carrying outshunting operations when making up trains.

In order that my invention may be better understood reference will be had to the accompanying drawings which show, by way of example, an apparatus constructed in accordance therewith, and in which:

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of the entire apparatus. 7

Figure 2 -is atransverse section on a larger scale taken on the line A-B of Figure 1. l

Figure 3 is a plan, to the same scale as Figure 2, of a wedge and the adjacent struts.

Figure 4 is a section taken on the line CD of Figure 3.

Figure 5 is an elevation of the controlling means.

In the drawings the rails of the permanent way or track are marked 1, the braking bars 2, their struts 3 and the wedges 1. The braking bars 2 are formed of rails laid parallel to the permanent way (Figures 1 and 2) with their heads facing the side of -each rail 1. To the shoe of each of the rails are fastened the struts 3 formed by transverse bars terminated near the axis of the track by inclined surfaces between which are the wedges 4.

The struts 3 and the wedges 1 rest upon transverse girders 5 fastened to wooden soles 6 placed longitudinally and fixed upon the sleepers 7 of the track to form a supporting frame for the braking mechanism. The rails or braking bars 2 rest, by means of liners or supporting blocks 8, upon metal plates 9 fixed to the soles 6, in alignment withthe girders or beams 5.

Into each plate 9 there is screwed a bolt 10 (Figure 2) which extends through a groove 11 formed in the lining 8 and the rail 2 and carries a nut 12 intended to pre vent the lifting of the braking rail 2 while allowing the latter to move laterally to a distance equal to the length of the groove 11.

The struts 3 are, furthermore, held against the girders 5 byyokes 13 riveted to the girders and forming, with the latter,

slideways for the struts. .Upon the yokes 13 near to the wedge 4 there is riveted a transverse yoke 14 tov the centre of which is .secured a pin 15 (Figures 3 and 1) which penetrates a vertical groove 16 formed in the wedge a (Figure 3) to guide the latter so that it will exert equal pressure upon the struts on either side thereof.

The operation of the wedges may be effected by means of chains or cables or, as shown, by a set of rods and levers comprising short rods 17 pivoted at 18 to the ends of the wedges (Figure 1), bell-crank levers '19 and rods 20 and 21 with regulating sleeves 2-2. The rods 21 (Figure 5) are pivoted to the bottom of a lever 23 pivoted at 24 to a supporting frame 25 and at its upperend to an internally threaded sleeve 26 mounted upon a screw PlOVlClQd with an operating hand-wheel 28.

If the handwheel 28 be so operated as to displace the rods 21 in the direction of the arrow (Figure 1) the wedges will move apart the struts 3 with the braking bars 2 and these latter will approach the rails 1 so as to exert upon the inner faces of the wheels 29 (Figure 2) a more or less powerful braking effect according to the degree to which they are approached thereto. The braking bars or rails 2 are bevelled at 30 (Figure 1) so as to avoid shocks at the entrance of the apparatus. An operation of the handwheel 28 in the opposite direction will return the wedges to the rear. The struts and the braking bars will then remain in their braking position, but will no longer be subjected to the pressure of the wedges so that the first vehicle passing will push them back, without appreciable resistance, into the position shown in the drawings. In Figure 1 two rods 21 are shown, abutting upon the lever 23 so that one of these rods always works with a tractive action when the handwheel is operated.

The apparatus shown may be of any length, but it is advisable to give the looking bars 2 a sutiicient length to act upon at least two sets of wheels at a time. The use of this apparatus enables all manoeuvres of rolling stock to be facilitated and accelerated without danger, as it is of safe and eiiicacious operation and cannot be displaced from the permanent track. lVhen the inclination of the terrain lends itself thereto it affords means of effecting the manoeuvres without the employment of a locomotive. In all these cases the use of the apparatus permits of the realization of a considerable economy of time and labour. Finally the apparatus can be placed upon main lines and connected to the controls of the signals by means of known connection so as to slow down or stop trains in the event of the latter overrunning the signals when the same are in the danger position.

It will be understood that various modifications may be applied to the apparatus described without departing from the scope of the invention. Thus, for example, instead of moving the braking bars apart by means of wedges, the rods 17 may, when no great power is required, be pivoted to bars 31 (Figure 6) pivoted in their turn to the braking bars 2 and acting in the same way as a toggle to push the bars 2 outward.

I claim:

1. In combination with a railway track, a pair of braking bars arranged between the rails of said track and parallel thereto, a plurality of pairs of inwardly extending struts having their outer ends connected to said braking bars, a corresponding number of centrally located wedges adapted to be driven each between the inner ends of a pair of struts, pivoted links connecting said wedges with each other, means for pulling said wedges axially of the track, and means including pin and slot connections for guiding said wedges.

2. In combination with a railway ti'ack, an understructure secured to the sleepers of said track, said understructure comprising a pair of longitudinal soles and transverse girders connecting said soles with each other, a pair of braking bars arranged between the rails of said track and parallel thereto, a plurality of pairs of inwardly extending struts resting each on one of said girders and having their outer ends connected to said braking bars, a corresponding number of centrally located wedges adapted to be driven each between the inner ends of a pair of struts, pivoted links connecting said wedges with each other, means for pulling said wedges axially of the track, guiding means for said bars comprising pin and slot connections between said bars and soles, guiding means for said struts comprising yokes secured to said girders, and guiding means for said wedges comprising yokes secured to said girders and pin and slot con-g nections between the last-mentioned and said wedges.

In combination with a railway track, an understructure secured to the sleepers of said track, a pair of braking bars arranged between the rails of said track and parallel thereto, a plurality of pairs of inwardly extending struts resting on said understructure and having their outer ends connected to said braking bars, a corresponding number of centrally located wedges adapted to be driven each between the inner ends of a pair of struts, pivoted links connecting said wedges with each other, guiding means on said understructure including pin and slot connections with said wedges, and means for pulling said wedges axially of the track comprising links pivoted to the foremost and real-most wedges, a pivoted lever 011 the side of the track, a pivotal connection between the last mentioned links and said lever, a nut pivotally connected to said lever, and an operating screw engaging said nut.

In testimony whereof I have afiixed my signature in presence of two witnesses:

ARTHUR DE LATHAUIVER. lVitnesses CH. PLUEKER, H. W. PLUEKER.

yokes 180 

